Boy's death spurs cross-country trek

Linda Losey rides along the shoulder of U.S. 491 on her way into Gallup on Friday. Losey is riding from California to Maryland in rememberance of her son, Sam, because he had wished to make the trek before he died at age 11. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Staff Writer

GALLUP — A trip through the Navajo Nation wasn't on the agenda, but Linda Losey didn't seem to mind.

"I have seen much more than I would have seen on (Interstate-40)," she said as Val and Rocky, her two horse companions grazed near U.S. 491 Friday afternoon.

Losey and the gang are on a 5,000-mile journey on the American Discovery trail that began in California on March 29 and will end near her home in Baltimore by Christmas.

"This has far exceeded my expectations," Losey said of the 740 miles she has already completed. "It's been hard, exhausting, overwhelming, and emotional ... in the end, it's proven to be a great journey."

She's making the trip for Sam.

Sam would have been 11-years old on March 29. He was a poet and loved horses. He was bright, smart, and funny. And he was Losey's youngest son.

"The more you tell the story," his mother said, "the more you say his name, the easier it gets."

Sam died last June in an accident. The trip was something Losey and her son had talked about.

Now, she's on her way, alone, in part to raise money for the Sam Losey Memorial Scholarship Fund and in part to support Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc., a local horse rescue.

Losey trekked 220 miles across the Mojave Desert.

The desert, she said, was precarious.

"Everything looked good on paper, but ...," she said with a smile.

Losey and her team average 20 miles a day "I take each day as it comes, when I reach the 20 miles, I know I'm home," she said and rest one day a week.

On Thursday, she was in Chambers and put up for the night by KTNN Radio staff. The Navajo Nation's Office of the Speaker hosted her Thursday evening and New Mexico State Senator Leonard Tsosie donated hay for her horses.

"This has turned out to be a generosity of spirits," Losey said.

The inner healing she hoped to find has turned into a public healing for others, she said.

By the end of her trip, Losey said she wanted to create awareness of how important family is and she hoped her son's spirit "would live on."

"This is my third state where people will know his name," Losey said.

On the Net: http://www.americandiscoveryride.com